After death threats, Swedish artist to paint Mohammed for exhibition

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - A Swedish artist who received death threats after depicting the Prophet Mohammed as a dog said Wednesday he would display new paintings of the prophet at an exhibition in the immigrant-heavy city of Malmoe later this year.

"It's important to continue because if you yield to the threats and back away, you have abandoned the democratic principle," Mr Lars Vilks said.

The artist has faced numerous death threats since his drawing of the Muslim prophet with the body of a dog was first published by Swedish regional daily Nerikes Allehanda in 2007, illustrating an editorial on the importance of freedom of expression.

The new paintings of Mohammed would show the prophet - still with a dog's body - in famous works by artists including Claude Monet, Peter Paul Rubens and Anders Zorn, Vilks said.